The Daily Valdemar No. 18: March 30

Valdemar Andersen, for the satirical magazine Klods-Hans, November 8, 1908.

Today's moment of calm frolics in grand passion.

The generation of Danish cartoonists before Valdemar Andersen made a light mocking of drawing opera singers. It is an easy one to make in that they are expressing grand passion in costumes that are a mix and match of epochs and the have-never-been. Consequently there is a double twist for the cartoonist to play with and there are elements of both in Valdemar Andersen presenting the tenor Vilhelm Herold and the baritone Albert Høeberg in the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen's production of La Bohème in 1908.

Yet it would be a pity to leave the present duo in that corner. The most striking element of the composition are the flat patterns on their trousers. They are exaggerated beyond any semblance of a world outside the two dimensions of the paper, while Valdemar makes a delicate differentiation of the two with the smaller grid of the baritone in the supporting role compared to the open and strong grid of the tenor. Their faces are sketched with deep shadowing to accentuate their singing. They embody another double in the age-old dilemma of the theatre in that their voices fill a hall of listeners while they remain centered within in their body, standing upright to employ their instrument to its maximum.

A recording of Vilhelm Herold singing Che gelida manina in Danish (!) from that very year can be heard here.